Abusive knife wielding ex-soldier terrified woman walking her dog in the park

James Jones tried to claim the knife he had with him in the park wasn't legally a knife but a judge disagreed and found him guilty of possession of a knife without a reasonable excuse. Photo / NZME

Eileen Pritchard feared for her safety and the safety of her dog when confronted by a man brandishing a knife and yelling at her to control her dog.

"I didn't know what was going to happen to me or my dog," Pritchard told Judge Michelle Howard-Sager in the Whanganui District Court on Monday.

James Jones appeared for a judge-alone trial on charges of behaving threateningly and possession of a knife in a public place without reasonable excuse.

Pritchard was walking her 4-year-old briard, named Bosun, near Whanganui's Kowhai Park on October 5 last year when the drama unfolded.

She was sitting on a park bench when she noticed another dog crawling on its belly approach Bosun from behind before jumping on him, which resulted in the dogs barking and chasing each other around.

Pritchard had not seen Jones, the dog's owner, until he began to shout angrily at her to take care of her dog.

"He was shouting at me to control my dog, so I shouted back at him 'control your dog'.

"That's when I saw he had a weapon."

Jones was wielding a pocket knife with the blade pointed at Pritchard and was about arm's reach away from her, she told the court, as she tried to comprehend what was going on.

"I felt absolutely terrified. He was shouting 'control your dog or I will'. Will what? I didn't know, but he was showing me, I have the means to do something."

Pritchard said Jones then kicked Bosun in the ribs before walking off.

Constable Matthew McLay said initially there were no lines of inquiry to identify Jones but a couple of days later Pritchard was sent a photo of a car he used.

Pritchard later picked Jones out of a photo montage and he was charged.

Jones, who represented himself in court, told a different tale when giving evidence and claimed Bosun had attacked his dog Connor, a vizsla.

The 72-year-old former Army officer claimed he had the right to carry the knife and seize or destroy any dog attacking his, under the Dog Control Act, but didn't need to use it and immediately put it away after kicking Bosun.

"I threatened no one, anything I may have said would have been a caution."

Jones, who is due to have open heart surgery next month, also disputed how close he had got to Pritchard, claiming he had remained more than 10m away.

"I had no intention of doing anything to increase my stress or blood pressure."

A folding knife was not legally considered a knife according to police legislation, said Jones, who was not allowed to present character references to the court.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Graham Hoskin clarified the information Jones provided related to the importation of knives and said anything with a sharp edge designed for cutting or stabbing was considered a knife.

After hearing all of the evidence, Judge Howard-Sager said police had proven all of the elements to uphold both charges.

She remanded Jones, on bail, to reappear for sentencing on January 12, and assured him he would be able to present his character references then.

Outside of the court Jones told Open Justice he would be appealing the verdict.